2. Methodology
• The research study looked at 400+ CMOs
• LinkedIn connections, Twitter activity, YouTube
presence were evaluated, among other
criteria
• CMO list provided by IBM
• CMOs using social media for personal reasons
were ignored in the statistical analysis
3. HOW POPULAR &
CONNECTED ARE
CMOS?
Insights into Twitter followings
A look at LinkedIn Activity
A study of Klout scores
Comparing Thought-leaders versus Professionals
4. CMOs and
• The majority of CMOs (61%),
even though they have their own
Twitter handle, aren’t very active
on it!
• No correlation between number
of Twitter followers and
connections on LinkedIn, or
participation on YouTube
• Retail (10), Electronics (9),
Finance/Insurance (7), Consumer
products (5), Media &
Entertainment (5) – highest
number of CMOs having their
own handle
14%
25%
61%
CMOs using own Twitter handle
for professional tweets
>10,000 followers
500 to 10,000
followers
<500 followers
5. CMOs are
• CMOs average 228 connections, from a
lifetime of corporate experience.
» The average number of connections for all LinkedIn
users is 20.
• No correlation between number of
connections and followers on Twitter. Some
CMOs are very active in LinkedIn and not even
on Twitter.
• All CMOs who have won Marketing awards
have 500+ connections on LinkedIn
6. Who has ?
FACT:
• The average Klout score is 20, and it gets exponentially difficult to
get a higher score
FINDINGS:
• 30% of CMOs who use their own Twitter handle for
professional/thought-leadership have a Klout score of 40 and higher
• 67% of corporate Twitter handles have a Klout score of 40 and
higher
INSIGHT:
• It is much harder for an individual to gain a higher Klout score, than
an army of social media professionals working under a corporate
handle.
• Klout by itself is a poor measure of actual social influence by a
CMO.
7. Thought leaders vs. professional
• Thought leaders have a lot of LinkedIn connections, over two-thirds had
500+
• Thought leaders on LinkedIn Group usually belong to multiple groups.
• Higher participation in LinkedIn by thought-leaders than professionals.
• CMOs who are thought leaders are more likely to appear in YouTube
videos, win Marketing awards, than professionals
59%
37%
68%
43%
9% 9%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
LinkedIn Groups YouTube Marketing Awards
Participation Rates Thought-leaders
Participation Rates Professionals
8. Thoughtleadersand ProfessionalCriteria
• Thought Leader:
- Tweets about industry trends and practices
- Tweets revolve around their field of expertise
- Tweets are more personable, making it easier for
everyday users to relate, engage and ask
questions
• Professional:
- Tweets about company events and news
- Tweets about profession and industry
- Tweets are geared toward company objectives
10. Categorization
Butterfly
1. > 10,000 followers on Twitter
2. >500 connections on LinkedIn
3. Very active in social media, “gets it”
4. *Social score of 6
Caterpillar
1. 500 to 10,000 followers on Twitter
2. 100 to 500 connections on LinkedIn
3. Somewhat active in social
media, starting to engage
4. *Social score of 4 or 5
Wallflower
1. < 500 followers on Twitter
2. <100 connections on LinkedIn
3. Not active in social media, barely
engaging
4. *Social score of 2 or 3
23%
65%
12%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Wallflower (2,3) Catterpillar (4,5) Butterfly (6)
CMO use of social media
*Click here for definition of social score
11. Investigating differences by industry
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Consumer products
Education
Electronics
Finance
Healthcare
Media
Retail
Telecom
Travel
Butterfly
Catterpillar
Wallflower
12. Social Butterflies
• Social butterflies tend to be more socially active within the retail or
media/entertainment industries where interactions with customers
happens often and requires constant monitoring.
• They typically belong to groups such as Forbes CMO network and Chief
Marketing Office (CMO) Network - #1 Group for CMOs.
• This group typically have an above 45 Klout Score, have +500 plus LinkedIn
connections and over +10,000 followers on Twitter.
90%
10%
Butterfly (6)
Professional Thought-leader
5%
0%
7%
3%
0%
12%
14%
5%
3%
Butterflies by Industry
13. Social Caterpillars
• Caterpillars are very concentrated around the consumer products, or in
retail industries. Where they may be struggling to find a voice and master
all social media channels.
• They typically are in marketing groups like the CMO club or Social Media
Marketing on LinkedIn.
• The caterpillar has a medium Klout score of 35, is active on LinkedIn and
also has a moderate following average of a few thousand followers.
14%
1%
10%
23%
9% 8%
26%
4% 5%
Catterpillars by Industry
87%
13%
Catterpillar (4,5)
Professional Thought-leader
14. Social Wallflowers
5%
0%
10%
29%
0%
9%
21%
3%
7%
Wallflowers by Industry
88%
12%
Wallflower (2,3)
Professional Thought-leader
• In the financial, retail industries there are a concentration of wallflowers who are
slow adopters. They may still be spending there time on the traditional approach
to business and marketing or are cautious about stepping into the social world.
• The typical Wallflower may only join a select group or two, which may be there
school alumni or favorite networking group.
• A Wallflower is a very slow adopter, they may not have updated their LinkedIn
profile and aren’t tweeting often. They simply don’t spend time managing their
social presence.
15. • CMOs were scored according to the number of
followers and connections they had:
• Twitter (uses personal or corporate handle):
- >10,000 followers = 3 points
- 500 to 10,000 followers = 2 points
- <500 followers = 1 point
• LinkedIn
- >500 connections = 3 points
- 101 to 500 connections = 2 points
- <101 connections = 1 point
• The points were then added together to give
each CMO a social score between 2 to 6
Social Score
16. WHAT YOU NEED TO
KNOW ABOUT CMOS
Most popular groups on LinkedIn
Top universities attended
Characteristics of the “TOP CMOs on Twitter”
The difference between socially active CMOs (20%) and
all other CMOs
17. Most Popular Groups in
Group name # of CMOs participating
Chief Marketing Office (CMO) Network -
#1 Group for CMOs
22
Forbes CMO Network 20
The CMO Club 18
Social Media Marketing 13
*Social executive council 9
*The variance in the number of members drops off around the 5th group. And we
start seeing many LinkedIn Groups with a single digit number of members.
18. Most Popular Universities Attended
University attended # of CMOs
Harvard 21
Kellogg/Northwestern 20
Stanford 10
Michigan 7
There are lots of universities with 5 or 6 CMO grads. So only the top 4 universities are
listed above. The next bracket of universities attended include: Cornell, Queens,
Western, New York, etc.
19. The Top CMOs on Twitter
• 304,036 Twitter followers, among 20 people
• 80% have over 500 followers on LinkedIn
• A third have an IT background
• Half of this group have a speaking or
interviewing role in a YouTube video
• Most have been in the current role at least 2
years
20. Optimized Versus Non Optimized
• 20% of CMOs studied are socially visible. They
have:
A high degree of activity in discussions and groups
Are active in building Connections and Followers
Have a complete LinkedIn profile
Added descriptions/tags to videos on YouTube
Easy to find in online – high presence
• 80% of CMOs are not socially visible.
x LinkedIn or Twitter profiles are not complete
x Are not publishing or bookmarking content
x Not spending time daily on social media
